Effects of time ordering in quantum nonlinear optics

We study time ordering corrections to the description of spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC), four wave mixing (SFWM) and frequency conversion (FC) using the Magnus expansion. Analytic approximations to the evolution operator that are unitary are obtained. They are Gaussian preserving, and allow us to understand order-by-order the effects of time ordering. We show that the corrections due to time ordering vanish exactly if the phase matching function is sufficiently broad. The calculation of the effects of time ordering on the joint spectral amplitude of the photons generated in spontaneous SPDC and SFWM are reduced to quadrature.